Mental Rebels
by StarWarrior72
Summary: I have this thing about people assuming that the heroes can get away with anything without getting hurt. I think that a lot of heroes would be in really bad conditions, mentally as well as physically. So, in this, Vader meets his son in a hospital, where the boy is dealing with PTSD and various concusions.


Sometimes, Vader hated his master. He didn't see why it had to be his duty to investigate prison after prison. Especially this one. It was more of a mental institute, really. This was where they brought mentally disabled criminals. Most of the inmates were affected by PTSD, but there were a few criminally insane as well.

Odd, how rebels never were. Criminally insane, that is.

Suddenly a young boy ran into the hall with a scream of, "Father!"

He raced straight at Vader, who pushed him away and stared at him. A nurse followed the child out of a room and caught him.

"No-no, sweetie. He's not your father."

The boy shot her a look that said clearly that he was sick of being treated like that, and she led him back into the room they had exited. Vader stared after them.

_That boy really must be crazy._ Vader thought, "Who is that?"

"That boy is just a rebel. He believes that his father was a Jedi. Why he would think that you were his father, I don't know."

"He is in a mental institute because he believes his father was a Jedi?"

"That is correct. The Jedi weren't allowed to have children, as you know."

Vader flinched inwardly, but he didn't think the man had known about his own unborn child. "That is not a lot of reason for him to be here."

The man tensed for a moment, then swallowed and managed to say, "We felt sorry for the boy."

"Sorry?" Vader asked.

"He is only seventeen. What he was enduring in prison… it was too much for a child."

"So the boy was brought here instead. On what grounds did you bring him here?"

"As I said, he was treated very roughly in prison. He was beaten terribly. When we found proof that some of the tortures might be causing brain damage, one of his guards asked us to bring him here."

"Why did you accept?"

"He is only a child. And he was only with the Alliance for a very short time. He claims that it was only about a week. He even showed us documentation that he was on Tatooine with his adoptive guardians at that time."

"That is easily forged. You seem to be saying that the only reason he is here is because he is a child."

The man fumbled with his words for a moment, "No. Well, yes. I mean, sort of. It can't be explained, but the boy… you can't help loving him. He's a sweet little kid at heart."

"I would like to speak to the boy." It was less of a request and more of a demand.

"Yes, Sir. We haven't yet told him why he's here." He added, unsure what made him do it.

Vader nodded curtly and followed the nurse into the boy's room. He was surprised to discover that the boy's door was locked, but used the Force to enter.

The boy was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling while the nurse sat over him and spoke to him softly.

The moment Vader entered, the nurse looked up.

"You may go." Vader waved one hand at the door behind him. The woman scampered past him. The boy on the bed hardly reacted.

"Hello, Not My Father." His voice was resigned and Vader was sure he was rolling his eyes.

"Who are you?" Vader asked.

The boy sat up, and Vader got his first good look at the child. "My name is Luke Skywalker. At least, I think it is. And all the records of my entire life say it is. But they've decided that it's not true."

"Have they. What do they think your name is?" Vader asked. It was rare that something interested him like this boy, but something felt special about him. Vader told himself that it had nothing to do with his supposed name.

"They don't know what my name is. They just call me 'Sweetie' or they decide to humour me and call me Luke."

Vader moved over to the boy, who was now sitting on the bed with his legs crossed. "Why are you here?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know," he gasped and managed to choke back a sob, "But I'm really glad I'm here and not back in prison."

"What did they do to you, child?" Vader asked, surprised at the boy's reaction.

"I don't want to think about it." Luke clasped his hands in his lap and stared down at them.

Vader felt, for the first time in years, like he was intruding. He awkwardly sat down beside the boy and put one arm around him, vaguely aware of two things, one, he had no idea what he was doing and two, this wouldn't help in convincing Luke that they weren't related.

The boy didn't protest. He leaned against Vader and started to really cry. Before he knew what he was doing, Vader had his arms around the sobbing child.

Vader looked down at the fluff of blonde, slightly wavy hair. He hadn't meant to invite the boy to cling to him like that, but somehow, he couldn't be angry about it.

The boy's shoulders were shaking violently, and Vader took the blanket off the foot of the bed and wrapped it around the boy, hoping against hope that warmth was all he needed. The child accepted the blanket, but still kept his arms around Vader.

"Let me go," Vader commanded the child.

Luke sat back, away from the Sith, and his arms quickly found their way around his pillow instead. In the blink of an eye, he had gone from clinging to a Dark Lord, to sobbing into a pillow. Deep down somewhere, Vader was hurt that he had been so easily replaced.

Vader picked up a data pad the nurse had left as a diversion. Flicking it on, he quickly hacked his way into the system.

By the time the child had stopped crying, Vader had discovered that the boy had suffered several concussions and was probably coping with PTSD.

Luke laid the pillow behind him and regarded Vader with curiosity. The older man returned the data pad to its previous resting place.

"Now you have to official diagnosis. Didn't you learn a lot more from that than you did from my actions?" Luke asked sarcastically.

"It is almost always advantageous to have the diagnosis." Vader said.

"What exactly did it tell you anyway? They won't tell me what's wrong with me."

Vader blinked in surprise. "It simply said that you have had several concussions and may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder."

Luke snorted. "I could have told you that much. And made both more definite. It's been far more than several."

"Do you believe that there is more?" Vader asked, curious despite himself.

"I don't know. I suppose I thought that there must have been more, because it didn't seem like a good enough reason to get me out of prison."

"It's not," Vader sighed.

"Are you here to take me back to prison?" Vader could see tears forming in the corners of the boy's eyes.

"I do not plan on returning you to prison, child."

"Maybe there is more to what's wrong with me than just the diagnosis. I don't know what it might be, though. Do you know what it might mean that I think things that I later realize aren't true? I mean, I called you 'Father', but now I know that I was being silly. No, stupid."

"I think that would be called desperation. You wanted your father, so you saw your father." Vader thought helplessly of his own encounters with a woman he thought momentarily was his wife.

"Yeah, I guess that must be it. Sir, I think something changed me. I never used to be like this. I'm too open. I don't feel like myself."

Vader stared, unsure of how to react. He was surprised also by the fact that the boy would share a secret like that with a complete stranger._ Maybe he still thinks, on some level at least, that I am his father. Poor child, what did he do to deserve this?_

Tears were reappearing in the boy's eyes. "I talk about things that should be private. It's like all my shields were torn down by something. I'm too emotional, too childish."

Again, Vader didn't know what to say. Now that he had voiced it, Vader could see that the boy was different. Maybe there was something further wrong with him. The boy's arms were inching back towards his pillow.

When the boy buried his face in the pillow this time, Vader put one hand on his back, rubbing awkwardly.

Finally, Luke pulled back out of the pillow, swiping away tears with an almost-angry, "See what I mean? This isn't normal for me!"

Vader nodded. Suddenly, he realized that the boy was pale, almost to the point that he looked sick.

He stood and the boy's eyes followed him curiously. "Come."

Luke stood up and followed Vader, but stopped as soon as they reached the door. "I'm not supposed to leave my cell without a nurse."

"I think I have the authority to mysteriously forget that rule." Vader couldn't help smiling under his mask. He was wondering, though, why Luke called his room a cell.

Luke smiled too, but stuck close to Vader as they left. At the first corner, they met one of the medics, and Luke almost turned to run back to his room. Vader caught Luke's arm and led him past the man, who acted as though he hadn't seen the two.

"This doesn't feel right. I want to go back to my room." Luke said nervously, pulling back towards his space.

Vader looked at the young boy in concern. "What doesn't feel right?"

"Being out of my cell! If they find me out here, they might send me back to prison! I couldn't bear that," the last was spoken to Luke's boots.

Vader wrapped his glove more tightly around the boy's arm. "Luke, relax. You're under my protection. Not doing as I say would have more severe consequences than doing it."

Luke nodded weakly, but he was even paler. Vader could see him shaking slightly. He rubbed the child's arm gently and Luke stumbled closer, until he was leaning against the older man.

"Don't be frightened." Vader said as quietly as he could. Luke nodded again, but did nothing to move out of the other's comforting aura.

Vader led the boy out into a garden. Here patients could grow food or flowers as they pleased, a small responsibility to convince them to take care of themselves as well. Vader looked at the gardeners in contempt, but Luke gazed intently at their work, fascinated.

"They do this all the time?" Luke asked, looking up at Vader's towering form.

"I would imagine so." Vader looked down at the boy, who was now leaning over the railing of the deck they stood on, trying to get a closer look at one of the plants. Vader took the back of his shirt, just in case Luke was to lose his balance.

"Wow. I wish I could." Having decided that looking was not good enough; he reached down and took a leaf, which he brought back up to examine. "Wow," he repeated, more quietly.

Vader smiled at the boy, "Why do you think that you wouldn't be allowed to?"

Luke turned to Vader, confusion written in his features. "They don't let me out of my room without a nurse! They wouldn't let me do this." He reached down for one of the flowers, and Vader gently pulled his hand back.

"Leave the flowers, Luke. The plants need them."

Luke pulled back, leaving the flower. "Sorry."

Vader didn't know how to respond, so he pretended the boy hadn't said anything. "Perhaps a nurse could accompany you."

Luke's eyes shone hopefully, "Yeah, maybe!"

Vader smiled again, "Who do the nurses think you are?"

"I already told you, they haven't got a clue! They're just _absolutely positive_ I'm not Luke Skywalker. Just because I'm _just as positive_ that I am. They say I'm wrong about everything, but it's not like they have any proof. I _know_ my father was a Jedi."

Vader nodded minutely.

"And I know that you were. I also know that you killed him. And I know that you knew him."

"Who?" Vader asked, increasingly edgy about Luke's Jedi father.

"Anakin Skywalker."

Vader froze. He had no idea how to respond to suddenly being beside, not a nameless rebel, but his son. His body reacted before his mind did. When the garden came back into focus, Luke was squirming slightly, pressed against his chest.

"Hey! What are you doing! Let me go!" Luke sounded more confused than afraid.

Vader released his son from his tight embrace.

"Wow, you knew him really well, didn't you?" Luke laughed, rubbing at his bruising arms.

"Luke…" Vader realized he had no idea what to say to the boy. Anything he said to the boy would be a shock. But then, suddenly being hugged must have been too, and the boy had dealt with that simply with nervous giggles.

"What was he like?" Luke asked, eyes wide at the prospect of meeting someone else who'd known his father.

"He…" Vader stumbled again.

Luke's smile faded slightly. "Please?"

"Luke-" Vader stopped for a third time.

Luke looked at the older man, almost sadly this time. "You will tell me, right? He was my father."

"I-I don't doubt that, Luke." Vader said, and he was surprised to find that it was the truth.

"Then what's wrong? Are you okay? Should I call a medic?" Vader was surprised not to hear even a hint of sarcasm.

"I'm fine." _Better than I have been in years, in fact. Luke, you have no idea what you mean to me!_

"Are you absolutely sure?" Luke asked, holding up a three fingers, "How many fingers?"

"Three. I'm all right, Luke."

"If you're sure." Luke nodded, but continued to look at Vader in concern.

_Luke. Oh, my son, would you come home with me?_ Vader longed to ask his son in such blunt terms. "Would you like to come with me for training? You could learn to be a Jedi." He offered.

"Really? You'd allow that? I wouldn't have to go back to prison, or even have a nurse with me all the time?"

"That's right. I would teach you to use the Force, and you wouldn't have to be a Sith. Do you wish to come with me?"

"Yes! Of course I want to! Can you really do that?"

"I can, Luke."

_I'll tell him someday. I don't know when. I'll know when the time comes. _Vader thought, trying to make himself believe it.

Vader reached out to the child, and drew him close.


End file.
